The design speed for local roads should reflect the appropriate environmental and terrain conditions for the various context classifications. The type and extent of adjacent development will generally suggest lower design speeds for these types of roadways due to the availability of ROW. Minimum design speeds for local roads are shown in .

See for additional guidance on selecting the appropriate design speed.

Design speeds in the rural context may range from 40 mph (rolling terrain) to 50 mph (level terrain) for roads with greater than 400 VPD. For rural local roads with less than 400 VPD, 30 mph (rolling terrain) or 40 mph (level terrain) design speeds may be used.

Lower design speeds are applicable to roads with winding alignments in rolling terrain or where environmental conditions dictate. Higher design speeds are applicable to roads in level terrain or where environmental conditions are favorable.

Design speeds for local roads in the suburban context range should ideally be 40 mph and will typically act as a transition segment between rural and urban or rural town sections of roadway.

Design speeds in these contexts are generally limited because of closely spaced intersections in a rural town or urban street grid. Since the function of local roads is to provide access to adjacent property in these contexts,

all design elements should be consistent with the character of activity adjacent to the street.

Design speeds may be reduced to be as low as 20 mph for urban core and design elements should encourage speeds to be no greater than 30 mph.